Should parents be worried about violent crime?

The following article was written by Dr. Shawn Schwaner.

Typically, news media and political leaders focus on criminal offenders in their portrayal of crime to the public. “If it bleeds, it leads” is a common quotation pertaining to the American fascination with violent crime. Gerbner’s notion of the “Mean World Syndrome” suggests that we are bombarded with negative crime imagery that shapes our understanding and fears of crime in America. In this light, it has been shown that women tend to have the highest fear of crime across the nation, especially violent victimization.

At a deeper level, women who are parents live under the constant specter of fear for their children’s safety and well-being. Images of Columbine and Sandy Hook continue to shake their fears and shape an excessive level of protection of their children. Though these two types of events are extremely rare, the constant news feed focusing on random children being killed in their front yard, on the way to school, or abducted from a mall parking lot are all too real. Parents, in general, and mothers, in particular, fear stranger abduction and random violent crime with considerable peril. In essence, it has long been known that mothers (and fathers) want to know that their children are safe and will return home from school, a friend’s house, without harm.

Recently, in Chicago, a little girl was killed in a gang-related shooting followed by another the very next day. Fear in the city has escalated as many mothers and children seek solutions to the “madness.” Gangs are there and mothers dread the idea of their kids living in a world of threat. They want precautions. They want reassurance. Mother’s want to know where danger lurks and the likelihood of violence or abduction is the highest. And, at the end of the day, they want real time information.

Redzone technology’s application provides a sense of comfort for mothers. It has the ability to map out patterns of crime, can identify, if followed consistently, where gangs are pervasive. Even more, it is possible to identify areas in which abduction has occurred as well as sexual assault. The use of real time data has a vital role for mothers seeking to protect their children. Redzone has the ability to alert mothers to potential harm, real time threat, and a heightened ability to protect their children. In this way, Redzone’s ability to map crime data in real time is an invaluable tool to mothers that could save lives.